A dreamy violet violence and the manly scent of musk. Seoul based illustrator and designer Jo In Hyuk gives layers of depth to the beautiful people
The colours are pastels and the expressions dreamy but there is nothing soft about Jo In Hyuk’s illustrations. Rather, there is a hint of violence in his drawings. One set includes a model clutching her broken off horns, the stumps jutting from her head, red splashes across another, figures sprawled across the floor. The characters Jo draws are beautiful, and perfect in a way but by no means as dull as that may suggest – less bland models, more like the virgin suicide beautiful sisters, full of dreams and desires.
Jo also does fashion illustration. The characters seem a little odd for a designer based in Seoul – mostly caucasian; the men bearded trendsters who could have been plucked off the streets of London’s Broadway Market. Or perhaps Russian sailors are his source of inspiration. Either way, they are beautifully drawn. A drawing of a woman wearing a cape is our particular favourite for its use of different drawing styles – the face carefully shaded, an outline of hairstyle and the cape an inky dripping shape.
A recent project, ‘Brother on the Road’, in collaboration with Clock Industry exhibition space and publishers, includes a range of branded products, (again featuring the bearded ones) from scented candles – think manly smells of musk and the sea – to boxes of matches, and hats. Perhaps not essentials you would pack for a road trip, but curiosities that would nonetheless add a bit of intrigue to the everyday.
● By Rose Arnold
